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Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting May 5th on Proverbs 5:7-10

[If you have been here before, in May, then you might want to skip down below the green for today's post.]

"Thirty days hath September,

April, June and November

All the rest have 31

Except February which has 28

Except during leap year when it has 29"

NO I DID NOT WRITE THIS "POEM"! (Talk about free verse!)

Why didn't somebody just point out that the four months that do NOT have 31 days (except February, and everyone knows all about February The Exceptional) come every other month except that there is no 30 day month between July and August? The silly poem above mixes up the order just to hide the fact that the real 30 day months come in two orderly pairs: April/June and September/November. Can somebody please write a non-silly poem for us that will make this clear, and stick in our minds, but without gooping them up with exceptions (and please just leave February out of it!)?

And to make matters (far) worse, MILLERWRITES has created a Proverbs Pull-A-Part Plan that decimates that fine collection of wisdom in the book of Proverbs, by spreading commentary on each chapter out over 7 months (the good 31 day months)! Oh don't ask me to explain his system. You can try to decipher what he said about it at the top of any P31P posts from January or March if you like, or just follow along this month and figure it out.

1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight,2 that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; 4 but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 6 She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.7 Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say.

7) Why does Solomon keep nagging about this simple point? Or, why does he have to keep repeating himself? Or, why don't the durn kids listen already?! It's enough to make one keep repeating oneself! If you re-read the section above verse 7 (and it's a great idea to read the whole chapter corresponding with the date of the day), you will remember the dire nature of the subject here. Solomon wants to protect his sons from nothing less than a bitter, sharp sworded path to a metaphorical grave. Death by adultery.

8 Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house,

8) As with any temptation, we are reminded that even going close to the beginning of the edge of the start of thinking about entering into the outside perimeter of the cusp of sin's outside margins...is dangerous.

9 lest you lose your honor to others and your dignity to one who is cruel,

9) Among the things you can lose in this situation are your honor and your dignity. These may be the last things a lustful man has on his mind, but the first things to go when the door opens and he is caught with his pants around his ankles, or a video is taken secretly and seen by his church friends, and laughed about among his children's classmates! THEN he will vainly wish for the days when he did have some of those long lost treasures: honor and dignity.

10 lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich the house of another.

10) And then there's the possibility of lawsuits and blackmail. Or even "just" being divorced with good grounds, and losing every thing ever gained to "another".

Death by adultery.

11 At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.12 You will say, “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! 13 I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors.14 And I was soon in serious trouble in the assembly of God’s people.”15 Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.16 Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?17 Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 A loving doe, a graceful deer — may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?21 For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths. 22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. 23 For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.

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